Thomas: The answer kept coming back Boston

Posted By
Mike Petraglia
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April 4, 2009 @ 9:53 am
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The Bruins made it official on Saturday morning by announcing a four-year contract extension for goaltender Tim Thomas[1], worth a reported $20 million.

“I’m very happy to be staying in Boston for the next four years knowing that with free agency coming up potentially this summer, you have to think about would you rather go somewhere else or would you rather stay in Boston and after thinking things over, the answer kept coming back, Boston,” Thomas said[2].

The news conference was held at TD Banknorth Garden[3], some four hours before Boston’s scheduled matinee with the New York Rangers[4]. If the Bruins win, they clinch the number one seed in the Eastern Conference for the upcoming Stanley Cup[5] playoffs.

More from Thomas, as he expressed satisfaction while wanting to maintain focus on the season.

“To a certain extent there is,” Thomas said of the satisfaction factor. “To another extent, we’re in the middle of the season, we have a game at one o’clock today so I haven’t really let it sink in. To a certain extent, I’m just going to focus on day-by-day and game-by-game who we’re playing. I think that’s the way to approach this.

“I don’t this is anytime to sit back and pat yourself too much on the back. I think it’s more, ‘Hey, we have a lot more to accomplish that we could accomplish this year.’ And I’m looking forward to making a push at achieving those accomplishments,” he added.

General manager Peter Chiarelli decided to invest a reported $20 million over four years in his goaltender, who
could wind up winning the Vezina Trophy for top netminder in the league.

‘What sometimes gets lost in the translation is the uncanny ability to stop the puck,” Chiarelli said of Thomas’ 2.11 goals against and .932 save percentage this season, both of which lead the NHL[6]. “And Tim has shown that with all the other things and that’s why we’ve extended him for a long time and we’re excited to have him on board.

‘When we talk about the Tim Thomas story, we talk about perseverance over a long period time, we talk about a long journey and we talk about an unorthodox and hybrid style, so to speak.’

Part of the journey for Thomas includes sacrifice, like giving back half of his signing bonus or $75,000 to the Edmonton Oilers[7] back in 1998 so he could play in Europe, before returning to the NHL[8] and the Bruins for the 2002-03 season.

“That’s a good investment, though,” chimed in Chiarelli. “The rate of return on that is pretty good.”